Kaye Adams has hit out at snobby critics of Loose Women and said presenting it is more difficult than hosting Newsnight.
The broadcaster said the daytime ITV programme was an easy target for snipers but insisted it was a great platform for women.
And she thinks it should be celebrated as one of the few all-female productions on British screens.
BBC Scotland radio host Kaye, 57, said the fluid nature of the show meant she had to think on her feet and react quickly to her fellow panellists’ comments.
And she insisted she had a harder task than former heavyweight interviewer Jeremy Paxman, who could repeatedly challenge a politician with the same few questions.
Kaye – who was an anchor on Loose Women from 1999 to 2006 and joined the show again in 2013 – said: “I’m very protective of that brand because I think, like a lot of daytime television and a lot of productions that are all female, they’re easy to diss.
“I’m very defensive because here we are in 2020 and there are very few productions that are all female and I think that’s a really important thing.
“Women have a certain way of telling stories and sharing experiences that is quite special. It’s good to see that represented on a platform like that.
“We can get very snobby in television. Because I have been around for so long and I have done the pointy-headed political shows, I would argue, although Jeremy Paxman might not agree with me, that it’s kind of easier to do Newsnight in some ways.
“Because there you have three killer questions, you know what you’ve got to ask and everything is kind of set out. Whereas on a show like Loose Women, it’s a piece of putty.”
Speaking to Zara Janjua on the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Ask For More podcast, which will be broadcast tomorrow, Kaye also discussed her fellow panellists.
She said: “The line between real life and telly life gets blurred and you don’t have the same kind of respect for a fellow professional. You’re more likely to say, ‘Oh for God’s sake, that’s not what you were saying the other night.’”
